1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to humidors and, more particularly, to a tubular humidor with a mechanism for retrieving one or more cigars stored therein.
2. Description of Related Art
Cigar smoking has been subject to renewed popularity in 1990's. Nowhere is the popularity of cigars more evident than on the golf course. The focus of this renewed popularity has been fine cigars made of natural leaf tobacco throughout. Unfortunately, the leaf tobaccos used in fine cigars are very delicate, and their flavor can only be preserved by maintaining control over the moisture content of the cigar. Therefore, it is desirable to have a portable container which controls the moisture content of the cigars for transporting a small cache of cigars out to the golf course or other remote location where the cigars will be smoked.
The typical prior art humidor is a wooden box with a hinge top. Interior portions of the box are dimensioned to protectively surround a supply of cigars. The box humidors also include a source of humidity that delivers moisture to the cigars in the humidor. Some prior art humidors include a moisture-retaining pad at an upper location in the humidor, such as in the cover. The moisture-retaining material in the cover may be periodically replaced or remoistened to maintain a desirably high level of humidity. One example of such a prior art humidor is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,051, which illustrates a cigar humidor with multiple compartments for storing cigars.
Box shaped humidors of the type described above are ideal for long-term storage of a large number of cigars in the home or office. However, these humidors are too large and awkward to be conveniently transported out to a golf course or other remote location. The box humidors are too cumbersome to either carry along with other equipment or store within one of the compartments of a bag or other container used to transport equipment. Therefore, a need exists for a humidor which can store several cigars and can be easily transported along with other equipment being carried by the smoker.
In an effort to preserve the freshness of a cigar during storage and transportation, manufacturers have sealed their cigars in individual cigar tubes. One example of a cigar storage tube is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,009. Although these tubes provide a sealed environment for transporting a single cigar, the tubes are not designed to provide humidity control for the cigar stored therein. The cigar tube in the above-cited patent provides an adjustable opening which exposes the stored cigar to the regulated environment of a humidor. While the individual cigar tubes are small enough to be transported in a container or a bag, they are not designed to provide the humidity control necessary to maintain the moisture content of the cache of cigars which may be stored for a period of time before being smoked.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tubular humidor adapted for storing cigars which can be stored in or mounted on a golf bag or other container for transporting equipment for extended periods of time. Due to the increased size of the tubular humidor over the prior art individual cigar tubes, the present invention further includes a retrieval mechanism for extracting the cigar(s) stored therein without the need to completely remove the humidor from the golf bag or container.